Tube cleaner



27 1920 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR \JOSEFH LEBENSTEIN ATTORNEY J. LEBENSTEIN TUBE CLEANER Filed Dec.

Jan. 29, 1924.

' Jan. 29, 1924.

, J. LEBENSTEIN TUBE CLEANER Filed Dec. 27, 1920 s Sheets-Sheet 2- INVENTOR "1 2i JOSEPH LEBENSTEIN ATTORNEY Jan.-- 29 1924.

J. LEBENSTEEN TUBE CLEANER Filed Dec. 27 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR \JOSEPH LEBENSTEIN ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 29, 1924.

UNETED STATES PATENT OFFEQE.

' JOSEPH LEBENS'IEIN, F REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOB. T0 ASSOCIATED EN- GINEERING & SUPPLY COMPANY, OFSAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORA- TION OF CALIFORNIA.

TUBE CLEANER.

Application filed December 27,1920. Serial No. 433,599.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known'that I, JosnrH Lnnnnsrnrn, birth place Tomak, Russia, with .the intention of becoming a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Redwood City, in the county of San Mateo and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Tube Cleaners, of which the following is a specification. r

This invention relates to tube cleaners, and more particularly to a device for cleaning the exterior surfaces of boiler tubes and the like. I a

The principal object of my invention is to provide an improved tube cleaner of the above character.

In the accompanying drawings; Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a tube cleaner embodying my invention; Fig. 2

29 an end elevation thereof; Fig. 3 a plan view of a portion of the; cutter carrying frame; Fig. lan enlarged perspective View of the socket portion of the cutter operating wrench; Fig. 5 aside elevation o'fthe motor mechanism for operating the tube cleaner; and Fig. 6 an end elevation of the complete tube cleaner applied in operating position, the boiler tubes being shown cross-sectioned. As shown more clearly in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the. tube cleaner proper may comprise a frame 1 adapted to be suspended by wires or cables 2, connected to an operating wire or cable 3, as shown inv Fig. 5. V V

Mounted on. trunnions 4 and 5 so as to turn in a central opening 6 of the frame is a multiple cutter 7 having curved faces provided with sharp edges for engaging the exterior surfaces of theboiler tubes, Said locking member '10.

*Inorder to lock the multiple'cutter 7 in its two positions of adjustment, the member 10 is provided at its lowerextremitywith a tang 11 adapted to engage in a crossshaped slot 12 in the frame either at right angles to or parallel with the frame. The'member' 10 isyieldingly held in position bya cross arm 13, mounted on guide bolts 14, secured to the frame, coil springs 15 under tens on, v

being secured at one end to the frame and at the other end to the cross arm.

The member 10 is provided with a cone shaped portion 16 adapted to engage a corresponding bore through the cross arm.

For operating the tube cleaner, a motor mechanism may be provided, such as shown in Fig. 5, and comprising a base plate 17 upon which is mounted an electric motor 18. Mounted in a standard 19, secured to the base plate 17, is a crank shaft 20, which is connected to the motor shaft, 21 through a flexible coupling, such as a leather disk 22 having pins 23, some of which connect the disk to the motor shaft 21 and others connecting the disk to the crank shaft 20, the crank shaft preferably having a fly wheel 37 secured thereto at its outer end.

The standard 19 is provided with a bore for receiving a cylindrical cross-head 24, which isconnected to the crank shaft 20 by a connecting rod 25. V

Pivotally connectedto the cross-head 2a is an arm 26, fulcrumed on a pivot pin 27 which is mounted in a standard 28, secured to the base plate 17 The arm 26 extends out beyond the base 17 and at the outer end is provided with means. for securing the wire or cable 3 to the arm, comprising a hollow cone shaped member 29, adapted to engage a corresponding bore. in the arm 26 and having screw threads at one end for a nut 30, by which the member 29 is secured to the arm 26.

The member 29 is provided with a central opening for the cable 31am]. the hollow portion is made cone shaped for receiving four wedge blocks 31' having opposite inclined faces adapted to be engaged by a corresponding inclined face of a nut 32. Said nut engages screw threads on the member 29, so

that when the nut is screwedup, the wedge blocks '31 will be clamped into engagement with the cable 3, by the relative'movement on the inclined faces.

The slack of the cable 3is wound on a drum 33 supported by lugs 36 on the standard 28, the drum being clamped in position by means of a thumb screw 34.

In operation, if the tubes of a boiler are to be cleaned, the apparatus is introduced into the boiler through the usual man hole and is positioned to rest on the top rows of the tubes, as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings.

By means of a socket wrench 38, the member 10 may be operated to adjust the multiple cutter 7 For this purpose, the upper end of the member 10 is provided with a pin 39 which projects out on opposite sides of the member anzl the wrench 38 is provided with opposite spiral slots 40, terminating in openings 11. The wrench 38 is applied to the member 10 so that the slots register with the opposite ends of the pin 39 and the wrench handle is rotated until the pin 30 engages in the openings 41. The wrench is then lifted, thereby raising the member 10 and the cross arm 13, against the resistance of the springs 15. This movement disengages the tang 11 from the slot 12 the frame 1 and the tang is positioned by further turning the wrench 38, so thatthe tang 11 will register with that portion of the cross slot 12 which is parallel with the frame 1.

The wrench being released, the tang will engage the slot 12 and will be held in position by the action of the springs 15 on the cross arm 13 y The multiple cutter 7 is now in the same plane as-the frame 1 and the tube cleaner may be lowered between adjacent vertical rows of boiler tubes by means of the cable 3, the nut 32 having been previously loosened to permit the cable to be shifted- Then the tube cleaner is in a position intermediate four boiler tubes, such as that shown in Fig. 6, the nut 32 is screwed up to clamp the cable in position, the thumb nut 34: being also tightened to prevent the drum 33 from turning.

The wrench 38 is now inserted between the rows of boiler tubes, so as to engage the end of the member 10 and said member is raised by the wrench and turned so that the multiple cutter assumes the position at right angles to the frame 1, as shown in Fig. 6.

The wrench is then withdrawn, permit- 7 ting the member 10 to drop so that the tang 11 engages the slot 12 in the frame and thus lock the multiple cutter in its operating position.

The electric motor 18 is now started and thereby the arm 26 is given a reciprocating motion through the connection with the cross-head 24. r

The arm 26, working on its pivot 27 then causes a vertical reciprocating movement of the cable 3 and the connected frame 1 and cutter cross 7 so that the multiple cutter is caused to. rap the four adjacent boiler tubes as it works up and down.

Scale and sediment collected on the exterior surfaces of the tubes is thus cleaned off, and the apparatus may be moved as desired in a longitudinal direction so as, to clean the adjacent tubes throughout their extent.

It will be noted that the frame 1 has a vertical movement relative to the multiple cutter 7, by reason of the space left between the frame and the extreme top and bottom portions of the cutter, so that the frame in its movement hits the multiple cutter like a hammer, which greatly facilitates the dislodging of scale on the tubes.

Thev tube cleaner may then be shifted to another tier of tubes by moving the multiple cutter 7 to its position parallel with the frame 1 and by adjusting the length of the cable 2 to suit and then turning the cutter to its operating position at right angles to the frame, in the manner which will be evident from the previous description.

The above described tube cleaner is so constructed that it may be adjusted to work and clean the exterior surfaces of the tubes in any part of the boiler or other places where horizontal tubes accumulate scale, chemical alkali sediment, or any foreign substance which interferes'with or endangers the life and efficiency of the tubes.

The apparatus is compact, relatively light in weight, and readily portable and can be adjusted between tubes that are inaccessible to hand cleaning.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a' tube cleaner for horizontally disposed tubes, the combination with a cruciform, cutting member having opposed arcuate cutting edges, of means for reciprocating said member transversely with respect to a plurality of tubes.

2 In a tube cleaner for horizontally disposed tubes, the combination with a cruciform cutting member having opposed arouate cutting edges, of means for reciprocatin}: said member vertically and transversely with respect to a plurality of tubes.

3. In a tube cleaner for horizontally disposed tubes, the combination with a tube cleaning cutter member, of a frame within which said member is rotatably mounted and means, for reciprocating the frame transversely and vertically with respect to a plurality of tubes. y

4. In a tube cleaner for horizontally disposed tubes, the combination with a tube cleaning cutter member, of a frame within which said member is rotatably mounted and means for reciprocating the frame transversely with respectv to a plurality of tubes, said frame being prevented from rotating by engagement with the tubes.

5. In a tube cleaner, thecombination'with a frame, of a tube cleaning cutter member rotatably mounted in said frame and rotatable to one position in which the cutter member is sheathed in the frame and to another position in which said member is ex posed for action and means for moving said member from one position tothe other position.

lit)

6. In a tube cleaner, the combination with a frame, of a tube cleaning cutter member normally mounted in said frame and movable to one position in which the cutter member lies in the plane of the frame and to another position in which said member lies in a plane at right angles to the plane of the frame and means for shifting said member from one position to the other position.

7 In a tube cleaner, the combination with a frame, of a tube cleaning cutter member rotatably mounted in said frame and having two positions of adjustment, means for shifting said member from one position to the other position, and means for locking said member with respect to the frame in either position of adjustment.

8. In a tube cleaner, the combination with a frame, of a tube cleaning cutter member rotatably mounted in said frame, a lock for holding said member against rotation in either one of two positions, and means for releasing said lock.

9. In a tube cleaner, the combination with a frame, of a tube cleaning cutter member rotatably mounted in said frame, a lock for holding said member against rotation in either one of tWo positions, and means for releasing said lock and for rotating said member from one osition to the other.

JOS PH LEBENSTEIN. Witnesses:

CARROLL S. LEBENSTEIN, JOHN F. GROENE. 

